Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-06-05

IN thr1 HhtVi <cV mhso ih''Nt
without proper materials and tools
10 work with, and some Of the difficult
ties the men overcome remind one OF
Robinson Crusoe's attempt to make
bont out of a tree. For instance, the
bent wood necessary for the constru;.
ton OF the hull had to be saved out oil
squared timber, an operation which
necessarily delayed the work. This is
only one instance. However, after
time the little boat was ready to be pat
on the ox-wsgon, its length having. IN.
deed, been regulated by the length OF
that conveyance, and from Uitzlsshoek
she was carried over the Drakensberg,
nearly 6,000 feet above the sea level,
down to the sea at Durham. BY the
time she was fitted ont she had cost be-
tween GOO and 600.
before giving few details of one OF
the most adventurous voyages that
were undertaken by men | may de-
scribe the arrangements OF the Home
ward Bound. She is 20 feet long, has
q beam of feet inches, and draws
A. feet OF water. She is Al tons bur
den, and her rigging consists OF
mainmast, with gait and boom, carry
ing mainsail and gaff topsail. with two
ibis, or one foresail and one jib. After
the trip from Port Natal TO Table Bay
topmast was added, and the cap
tain made other sails-a square
sail for running, square topsan
for fine weather, and in the winds
stunsails were put on both sides.
Lumps of granite and sand bags were
used for ballast, and seven 2O-gallon
casks of fresh water were slowed away
below the main-deck, each barrel being
filed with salt water as the fresh water
was finished. 1t must be understood
that the boat IS an open boat in the
sense that it is little more than a shell
covered over with a thin canvas deck,
well.oiled, and divided into two air
tight COMPARTMENTS small one aft
for slowing the provisions, spare sails,
and other material, separated by
well, feet wide by2 feet 6 inches
deep by feet inches long, from the
larger portion forward.
This was used as a cabin and general
storeroom, and a very extraordinary
little hole it is to be the home of three
big men for ten months. 1t is entered
from the well which | have described,
through small sliding door, through
which / crawled with great difficulty
This is what j saw To begin with, the
height is about two feet four inches, 80
that it is impossible to sit up, and
there is only room for two of the crew
to lie down, the third man being at the
helm. Some of the blankets, rotten
with salt and water, covered the floor,
and corts, oilskins, trousers. boots, and
shirts were piled up on either side.
The cabin is lighted up by little
window about one foot long and
six inches wide. The compass
is inside, the man at the helm
being able to see the needle from above.
A little aneroid barometer is nailed up
close to the lamp. The other dunna q
was curious mixture of odds and ends,
snch as sextant, little mahogany SCI
chest, strings of candles, ead-bag4,
rusty scissors, knives, forks, and spoons
stuck into the beans overhead, billits
and pannikiDs, fishing-lines, log -glass,
foghorn, charts, and many articles too
numerous to mention. Imagine this
stufy little hole in the tropics, with
the sun overhead, and not breath Of
wind or in a hurricane with great seas
beating down on the canvas overhe Vd
and driving the frail craft almost out OF
sight by their weight In the hot
weather the deck was kept cool by
buckets of water, but in bad weather
the door was generally kept open, and
so well did she ride the gales that only
about half a dozen times was it found
necessary to shut the doorway. If the
well filed. as it sometimes did, the man
at the helm gave it a jerk and let as
much water out as possible, and thea
all bands turned to and baled. The
men have suffered much from want of
exercise, for the well was their only
exercise ground and | have given the
dimensions of that already. The galley
stood here, little paratine stove, IN
which everything was cooked. They
had ample supplies of tea, coffee, few
bottles of rum for medicinal purposes,
sugar, biscuit, flour, and an infinite
variety of timed meats, vegetables,
and potatoes, running short sometimes,
but getting fresh supplies at one of the
four ports at which they touched.
1t was intensely interesting to hear
Captain Nelson's account of the trip.
He is a Norwegian who speaks very
good English, is passed merchant
captain, who has been weathering
storms for twenty years i'll every part
of the globe, who has fought in the
Zulu war and holds a certificate fro n
Baker, of Bakers Horse, for his ser
vices during the Basuto war. With
such a fine fellow for skipper it is not
surprising that the Homeward Bound
reached British waters after her despe-
rate voyage. The captain had taken oIt
his papers from a very moist portman
teau on board, but We adjourned TO his
lodgings and examined its contents ut
leisure, for the crowd was u little curl
ous. and the cabin was not exactly the
place for an interview. Every bit of
paper was endued with romantic halo.
There we're all manner of mysterious
packets done up in scraps OF old news
papers, certificates, mail papers, note
boob, and photographs. But the log
book was the notwithstanding Iiemin the
collection, for Captain Nelson has had
a careful training, and his log. book has
been kept in the most minute manner.
In this voyage the crew was divided
into two watches, the captain taking
the first four hours, the other two
taking the next four, and so on. Thy
suffered much from want of sleep, the
longest spell being three days and three
NIGHTS. 1t is remarkable that tn y
shipped a rat on board somewhere, and
only got rid of him after a long chase,
driving him clean overheard. In the
tropics huge shark followed them for
a week, which was little uncomforta-
BILE, but it sheered off eventually. Cap
tain Nelson was put to some queer shifts
during his voyage. He had mo chronom-
eter, and it was often difficult to take
the sun, owing to the lowness of the
boat in the water, so that many of his
courses were steered by dead reckon
ing alone, but the constant handling of
the boat had reduced the uncertainties